Getting IN Deep with AMD's OPTERON!!! nice read

Well as ya all know Ive been messing around wiht the OPTERON as of late as its something challanging seeing as OPP and such are owning 2k1+2k3 ATM ..

In my 2 week find I have found some of the weirdest stuff Ive ever come across in my overlcocking days..

My findings and testsin of 3 retial 146 opterons all let me to the same place over the span of 2 motherboards a 2 diff ram sets and from stock cooling to some of the best In the world and to get where the exact same place..

all 3 cpu's would not go over 228-229mhz fsb or a total of 2300mhz..

all 3 did 2280-2290 or so all wiht only 1.61-1.625v with stock AMD cooling

all 3 still maxed the same from stock air cooling to -25c mach II cooling

all 3 maxed the same from 1.625v-1.9v

all 3 maxed the same from 1:1 ratio fast timings on the ddr to 5:3 even wiht slack timings on the ram

all 3 same over the course of the asus sk8n and asus sk8v motherboards

the same from mushkin HP 2-3-2 ram to kingston ecc certified ram

same from DC to SC

I had the asus nf3 modded like a champ VDD-LDT-VDIMM-VCORE-VAGP

psu'S i TRIED 2 550W TRUEPOWER ANTEC'S also fully modded for added strength on the rails

In the end I was lost I managed faster scores and benchmarks by far from the asus VIA KT800, but synthetic benches where faster on the nf3 even tho benchmarks lacked overall speed..

so for all looking into opterons even maybe the 148 2.2ghz flavor I bet my life becasue the three HT lines compared to the 1 enabled in the FX51 and due to locked multi's these are not overclocking chips... not that 2290mhz at 1:1 doesn't fly with a 36s superpi 1M at under 2300mhz these chips are not for the overclocker at heart..


some of the good news tho :0
3dmark 2k1
#1 5900nu overall
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7356142

3dmark 2k3
#1 5900nu-5900u overall
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=1733148

pcmark 2002
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?pcm=1647280

Great info! A bummer they don't seem to OC better (amazing that all that cooling doesn't make a difference)

yeah I had to take to trips to frys to change out the 146 just becasue I couldnt belive it wouldn't move any from all that cooling..

has to be something internal with the 3 HT lines as the FX51 only has one enabled... I still cant sleep knowing this crap as it doesn't make sence to me 1.6-1.9v nothing 38c to -25c nothing lol 2 diff mobo's same thing 3 cpus lol ahh Im going to go crazy

psu'S i TRIED 2 550W TRUEPOWER ANTEC'S also fully modded for added strength on the rails

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Do you have a link to this mod?

I wonder if some of the strange things you are seeing are due to the SOI technology used to produce these CPUs...

Gnufsh said:

I wonder if some of the strange things you are seeing are due to the SOI technology used to produce these CPUs...

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Unlikely as SOI is used on the FX's and the A64's - isnt it? and these do respond to cooler temps and more voltage. It does seem as though something architecturally is causing it - Opterons naturally are designed to be very stable for servers and I read somewhere on the AMD site about the differentiation between them and FX's - let me go search.
Edit actually I cant find any reference to the SOI for FX's on the AMD site so there maybe some truth to it.
The only other difference I could find apart from the HT links is the electrical specifications they are tested to.

rem the opterons have all "3" HT lines active where as even tho fx51 is the same chip only has the ONE maybe this is the reason...

the mod's for the truecontol/truepower are easy cut the sense lines to each 12-5-3.3v and add a 10ohm fixed resistor in the middle then parall a 1k VR in to that starting at 1k

my truecontrol went from

3.41=3.xxv
5.12v=5.xxv
12.22v=12.xx

xx= whatever the hell I want it to be

Is there a diagram or something so I can pinpoint the sense lines that I'm supposed to cut?

AFAIK, all K8s are built on the .13micron SOI process. There shouldn't be much difference between the current FX and the opteron 1xx. Maybe they manufacture them a little differently. IBM uses thicker gate-oxides (I think) on their server processors like the Power4 than on their desktop versions like the PPC970, which is based on the Power4 core. This leads to slower clock speeds on te server chips, but increased reliability. Also, if all HT links are enabled on he Opteron 1xx, why can't they be used in 2-way or 4-way boards? I'd like to see a mod making that possible...

On my leadtek board i have the option of lowering the Mhz of the HT.. The norm on the NF3 are 600Mhz but you should have to lower it to overclock.. cause once you start overclocking the HT Mhz also goes up. On the leadtek theres options for 4,3 the norm and 2.5,2 and 1.

Try lowering that if ya havent done so already.. Though to get that 2200-2300Mhz i bet ya did.

isnt' it becuase the asus nf3 does NOT have a pci/agp lock? that's what i see here is a mobo problem. The mobo can't handle any higher 'fsb' speeds. i think using mach2 cooling and not getting further is a big sign.

Hey, just wondering where you got those 146s from? I've been thinking about getting one and am just curious...

Nice work, Jason/Qwerty/MickeyMouse/whatever you want to be called. I've been waiting to see someone seriously attempt to overclock an Opteron. Couldn't think of a better candidate than you. The results are a little disappointing.... This confirms that Opterons are not sub-$200 FX-51's. What the exact difference between them is, though, is unclear. This could be it though:

Is there a diagram or something so I can pinpoint the sense lines that I'm supposed to cut?

AFAIK, all K8s are built on the .13micron SOI process. There shouldn't be much difference between the current FX and the opteron 1xx. Maybe they manufacture them a little differently. IBM uses thicker gate-oxides (I think) on their server processors like the Power4 than on their desktop versions like the PPC970, which is based on the Power4 core. This leads to slower clock speeds on te server chips, but increased reliability.

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Perhaps an Opteron paired with midrange air-cooling could be considered a good value, as even at below 2.3ghz, as you've shown, they deliver pretty heavy performance. Definitely enough to rival or top similarly priced P4C's.

Sorry if this post lacks coherence; I need some sleep.

Jason posted over at XS about some new results involving a wire-in-socket. Apparently he's stable at 237 now. Encouraging results. Come on Jason, share the secret!

Give me a break. We NEED to know the secret.

OK FOR ALL THOSE SAYING THE OPTERONS ARE DISAPOINTING HERE ARE SOME FACTS!!

will do only 2280-2290mh stable at 1.62v on stock at 44c cooling down to -30c doesn't help any..

next it isnt a fsb issue as right now with my FX51 and 9x multi I am running 250-260+ 1:1 stable..

this 228-229mhz was done on the asus sk8n and sk8v boards not just one board...

no difference in ram timings matter I can max out with absolute fastest timings possible at 229mhz 1:1 2-2-2-2 and eveen "1T COMMAND" but 230mhz was a no post...

so its not a voltage/heat/mobo/ram issue so what does that leave us with???

Im betting highly on the 10x multi as on these onboard mem controllers the multi efects ddr speed. 10x=166 where as 9x=148mhz or so yes less over speed.. also the 3 HT line's open could be the main casue...

I found with a trick froma friend I could get 237 but only in 5:3 mode and that seemed to be stable for one 3dmark bench at 1.62v and even at 1.8v at -30c same results..

also noting with the FX51 and the 10x multi I also cant get anywhere at fkn all.. 231mhz 1:1 was the max but at 9-9.5x I could do 240+ all day.. and since the multis on these chips unlike the A64s are locked completely no room there..

BUT TRUST ME 228MHZ 1:1 dc 2-2-2-2C + 1T COMMAND WITH 1GIG MUSHKIN OF RAM crushed the $750 stock fx51 chip becasue of the 28mhz on the fsba nd added badnwith. and the mobo+ram+chip cost me about the same as an fx51 alone with my discounts..

all In all my 2290mhz 1:1 opteron 146 would rape a 4ghz P4 all day long and with the chip/ram/fsb all stock and 24.7 stable cant go wrong...

maybe the $850 148 with the 11x multi would be diff. and also I see now a 1002.14 beta bios with ddr400 support for the 146 opteron for the sk8v that might help who knows havent tested yet.. but its all good

Try different opterons at different speed grades to see if they max out at the same fsb. I think it is just that the chip itself has a lot more headroom but the hypertransport links don't like to go so fast together. Either way, amd is just doing stuff weirdly.

I think I will go with an Opteron, since I want to eventually upgrade to dual processor, (can the a64's do this with modification?) and I love the best bang for your buck kinda deals. The only problem is i know that the dual processor mobo's won't be overclocker friendly
P.S. Does it matter which opteron you get 1.4, 1.6 etc. Or do they all max out the same (2.2-2.3)with the same cooling.

P.S. Does it matter which opteron you get 1.4, 1.6 etc. Or do they all max out the same (2.2-2.3)with the same cooling.

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LMFAO the 1.2/1.6/1.8ghz flavors wiould need a huge 240-260mhz fsb to hit close to 2.2/2.3ghz sorry mate ya want 2.2ghz get a few 246's or go safe 248's for some serious $$$$$

dont look even at what I do as everybody can do it easy I have alot alot of work/time and skill to get this 2ghz to 2300mhz and I saw a JAP ned 2v and LN2 cooling at -120c t hit 2.2ghz on a 144 opteron so get what you want max before thinking baout overclocking.. trust me my 2ghz opteron at 220x10 2200mhz fx51 power with 20mhz+ on the fsb can run anything you can think of so fast ands somth its funny

Qwerty - Are you planning to try out the flavour with the higher stock multiplier?

It is weird that this chip walls so quickly - even with your cooling, and various tricks of the trade .

well the 148 is the same price as the fx51 I have now so I see no need as the opteron 100-800 series are exactly an fx51 wiht 3 HT lines unlike the fx51's one and since I will only ever run 1HT transport casue I dont sue dual cpu's I wouldnt even want to try the 11x multi 148/248

I could have tried a few more things but since this setup is sold and I wanted to keep it all brand new as close to it as possible I could only do so much...

the 146 opteron 64+sk8v asus "OPPS' MOBO"+2x515 HPerformance mushkin pc3200 ecc I sold for a low $650 with free fedex/ups 2 day shipping.. the stuff laone is ober $1k and since its all retail boxed goods with the recepits it was an awsome deal..

I have been playing and running 24/7 stuff on this now soince i made the deal 3 days ago away from benching wiht a 5900nu and I have never had every single game/app run so good it makes me smile all this 2250mhz 225 1:! DC on stock air and 5900nu@500/975 stock cooling also....

thiss gaming rig will "LAUGH" at a 2800-2900mhz barton setup at 230mhz dc fsb IMO and its so stable cool runing and sinc eno barton is doing 2800mhz on stock AIR this is the setup everygamer should own..